Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A wireless local area network discovery method, comprising: acquiring, by a network node, an access point (AP) identifier of an AP of a wireless local area network and a first measurement result that is reported by a first user equipment (UE), wherein the AP identifier is associated with the first measurement result; acquiring, by the network node, a second measurement result reported by a second UE; determining, by the network node according to the first measurement result and the second measurement result, whether the second UE is located within coverage of the AP; and determining, by the network node, that the AP identifier is associated with the first measurement result, comprising, acquiring, by the network node, connection establishment time, which is reported by the AP, of the first UE and the AP, acquiring, by the network node, reporting time of the first measurement result, and when a time difference between the connection establishment time and the reporting time is less than a preset delay threshold, determining that the AP identifier is associated with the first measurement result.
A method for discovering wireless local area networks uses a network node (like a base station or network control node) to determine if a user device (UE) is within range of a WiFi access point (AP). The network node gets the AP's identifier and a first measurement (like signal strength) reported by a first UE. It also gets a second measurement from a second UE. It then compares the two measurements to estimate if the second UE is within the AP's coverage area. Crucially, to ensure the first measurement is valid, the network node checks the time the first UE connected to the AP against the time it reported the measurement. If the time difference is small (below a threshold), the measurement is considered associated with that AP.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: the network node is a base station; and acquiring, by the base station, the AP identifier and the first measurement result comprises: receiving, by the base station, the AP identifier and the first measurement result that are directly sent by the first UE to the base station, or receiving, by the base station, the AP identifier and the first measurement result that are sent by the first UE and forwarded by the AP.
The WiFi discovery method described previously is specialized when the network node is a base station. The base station receives the AP identifier and the first UE's measurement in one of two ways: directly from the first UE, or forwarded by the AP after receiving it from the first UE. This means the UE can either send the information directly to the base station or the AP can act as a relay, sending the AP identifier and UE measurement to the base station.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: the network node is a network control node; and acquiring, by the network control node, the AP identifier and the first measurement result comprises: receiving, by the network control node, the AP identifier and the first measurement result that are sent by the first UE and forwarded by a base station, or receiving, by the network control node, the AP identifier and the first measurement result that are sent by the first UE and forwarded by the AP.
The WiFi discovery method described previously is specialized when the network node is a network control node. The network control node receives the AP identifier and the first UE's measurement in one of two ways: forwarded by a base station after receiving it from the first UE, or forwarded by the AP after receiving it from the first UE. This describes a scenario where the UE sends the data to either the base station, which then forwards to the network control node, or sends the data to the AP which in turn forwards the information to the network control node.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: the AP identifier and the first measurement result acquired by the network node are comprised in a same measurement report reported by the first UE; or the AP identifier and the first measurement result are separately comprised in different measurement reports reported by the first UE.
In the WiFi discovery method, the AP identifier and the UE's first measurement can be reported in the same message or in separate messages. The first UE reports the AP identifier and signal measurement. Either the AP identifier and the first measurement are included together in a single report message, or they are sent in different report messages from the first UE. The network node needs both pieces of information to determine coverage.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining, by the network node according to the first measurement result and the second measurement result, whether the second UE is located within coverage of the AP comprises: when a processing result of the second measurement result and the first measurement result is less than a preset error threshold, determining that the second UE is located within the coverage of the AP.
In the WiFi discovery method, the network node determines if the second UE is within the AP's coverage by comparing the first and second UE's measurements. A processing result (for example, a difference) of the two measurements is calculated. If the result is smaller than a defined error threshold, the second UE is considered to be within the coverage area of the AP. This threshold defines how close the two measurements must be to conclude the second UE is within range.
6. A wireless local area network discovery method, comprising: acquiring, by a network node, an access point (AP) identifier of an AP of a wireless local area network and a first measurement result that is reported by a first user equipment (UE), wherein the AP identifier is associated with the first measurement result; acquiring, by the network node, a second measurement result reported by a second UE; determining, by the network node according to the first measurement result and the second measurement result, whether the second UE is located within coverage of the AP; wherein there are multiple first measurement results, the method further comprising: determining, according to a minimum value and a maximum value in the multiple first measurement results, a value range of the first measurement result associated with the AP identifier; when the second measurement result falls within the value range, determining that the second UE is located within the coverage of the AP; and wherein determining, according to a minimum value and a maximum value in the multiple first measurement results, a value range associated with the AP identifier comprises: setting the minimum value as a lower limit of the value range, and setting the maximum value as an upper limit of the value range, or setting a result obtained by subtracting an error threshold from the minimum value as a lower limit of the value range, and setting a result obtained by adding the error threshold to the maximum value as an upper limit of the value range.
A method for discovering wireless local area networks uses a network node to determine if a user device (UE) is within range of a WiFi access point (AP). The network node gets the AP's identifier and measurements reported by a first UE. It also gets a measurement from a second UE. It compares the measurements to estimate if the second UE is within the AP's coverage area. To improve accuracy, it uses multiple first measurements from the first UE. It determines a range based on the minimum and maximum values of these measurements. If the second UE's measurement falls within this range, it's considered within coverage. The range is defined by either the raw min/max values OR by subtracting/adding an error threshold to the min/max values respectively.
7. A network node, comprising: a receiver, configured to receive an access point (AP) identifier of an AP of a wireless local area network, a first measurement result of a first user equipment (UE), and a second measurement result of a second UE, wherein the AP identifier is associated with the first measurement result; a processor, configured to determine, according to the first measurement result and the second measurement result, whether the second UE is located within coverage of the AP; wherein the receiver is further configured to receive connection establishment time, which is sent by the AP, of the first UE and the AP; and wherein the processor is further configured to acquire reporting time of the first measurement result, wherein the reporting time is used to be compared with the connection establishment time; and if a time difference between the connection establishment time and the reporting time is less than a preset delay threshold, determine that the AP identifier is associated with the first measurement result.
A network node (like a base station) discovers WiFi networks. It includes a receiver to get the AP identifier, a first signal measurement from a first UE, and a second signal measurement from a second UE. The receiver also receives the connection time between the AP and the first UE. A processor determines if the second UE is in range of the AP by comparing the two signal measurements. The processor acquires the reporting time from the first UE and checks if the difference between the connection time and reporting time is small (below a threshold). This ensures the first measurement is still relevant to the AP. If the time difference is small, then the AP identifier is associated with the first measurement and the data is used for determining the coverage area.
8. A wireless local area network discovery method, comprising: acquiring, by a second user equipment (UE), an access point (AP) identifier of an AP of a wireless local area network and a first measurement result of a first UE, wherein the AP identifier and the first measurement result are broadcast by a network node, and the AP identifier is associated with the first measurement result; acquiring, by the second UE, a second measurement result; determining, by the second UE according to the second measurement result and the first measurement result, whether the second UE is located within coverage of the AP; determining, according to a minimum value and a maximum value in multiple first measurement results, a value range of the first measurement result associated with the AP identifier; when the second measurement result falls within the value range, determining that the second UE is located within the coverage of the AP; and wherein determining, according to a minimum value and a maximum value in the multiple first measurement results, a value range associated with the AP identifier comprises: setting the minimum value as a lower limit of the value range, and setting the maximum value as an upper limit of the value range, or setting a result obtained by subtracting an error threshold from the minimum value as a lower limit of the value range, and setting a result obtained by adding the error threshold to the maximum value as an upper limit of the value range.
A method for discovering wireless local area networks performed by a second UE. The second UE receives the AP identifier and the signal measurement of the first UE from a broadcasting network node. Then, the second UE measures the signal strength. The second UE determines if itself is in coverage of the AP. The second UE determines a range based on the minimum and maximum values of the multiple signal measurements from the first UE that it received. If the second UE's signal measurement falls within this range, it's considered within coverage. The range is defined by either the raw min/max values OR by subtracting/adding an error threshold to the min/max values respectively.
9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein determining, by the second UE according to the second measurement result and the first measurement result, whether the second UE is located within coverage of the AP comprises: when a processing result of the second measurement result and the first measurement result is less than a preset error threshold, determining that the second UE is located within the coverage of the AP.
In the WiFi discovery method performed by the second UE (described in the previous claim), the second UE determines if it is within the AP's coverage by comparing the first and second UE's measurements. A processing result (for example, a difference) of the two measurements is calculated. If the result is smaller than a defined error threshold, the second UE is considered to be within the coverage area of the AP. This threshold defines how close the two measurements must be to conclude the second UE is within range.
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October 17, 2017
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